Lai Mohammed: “How To Be A Successful Spokesperson”

According to Lai Mohammed, a former minister of information and culture said a public relations manager needs to be intelligent, self-assured, talented, and confident in addition to having a strong education in any subject of study to succeed.

The former Minister listed loyalty, courage, integrity, commitment, focus, and fearlessness as additional requirements for a spokesperson to succeed in their chosen field, whether it be the public or commercial sector.

Mohammed, who has worked as a spokesperson for several organizations for almost 30 years of his professional life, shared the recipe at a seminar hosted by the Nigeria Union of Journalists and the Department of Mass Communication at Olabisi Onabanjo University in Ogun State.

Speaking on the topic: “Redefining the role of the spokesman: My enduring engagement/ romance with the practice of public relations”, Mohammed said with a successful three decade in the practice of public relations, he did not study Journalism or Mass Communication and never for one day worked for or in any media establishment in life. 

“For the records, my first degree is  in French from what is now  Obafemi Awolowo University but in our time was known as University of Ife, and I later read Law in the University of Lagos and was subsequently called to the Nigerian Bar. 

“Yet I have spent about 30 years of my active working life as spokesperson for one entity or the other.

“Either it is as Public Relations Manager for the then Nigerian Airports Authority {now called the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria} or the National Publicity Secretary of Action Congress, Action Congress of Nigeria or the All Progressives Congress or as Minister of Information and Culture, I have always played the role of a spokesperson,” he said.

“He must not limit his role or function to press interventions, radio and television appearances, media monitoring, etc, but must see himself as a major stakeholder in his organisation. 

“He must be willing and ready to use public relations as a tool to address challenges confronting his organisation,” he said. 

“For instance one of the major challenges facing my organisation in the early 80s in particular was impunity and indiscipline, especially from the executive and legislative arms of government of the day.

“Some members of the National Assembly of that era had no respect for safety regulations and bye-laws of the Airports Authority. 

“Some of them insisted on being driven to the foot of the aircraft for boarding. Some of them turned our runways into highways while some were furious and demanded the heads of the management of Nigeria Airways or any airport official who dared to challenge them. 

“They threw tantrums if a flight departed without them, even  when they arrived at the airport a full hour after their scheduled flight time. 

“Recall this was a period when only the Federal Government-owned Nigeria Airways Limited was the sole operator in our domestic market.  

“At a point in time as a result of the irresponsible behavior of this class of people, international aviation authorities threatened to blacklist our airports as unsafe. 

“As the head of the public relations at the airport, I spearheaded the campaign of naming and shaming which didn’t go down well with our so called “big men”but which fortunately got the solid support of not only my management but that of the government of the day,” he said 

“I breathed AC, I inhaled AC, I slept with AC in mind, I dreamt or had nightmares about AC. My whole world focus and entire being was AC. Any slight on AC real or perceived I saw as a slight  to my person, and must be repulsed. 

“My loyalty to my party transcended my loyalty to any person or entity. I easily sacrificed friendship and other relationships on the altar of party.

“The health, fortune, pains and survival of the party became inseparable from my own health, fortune, pain or wellbeing. 

“I became obsessed with the party. I was acutely aware of the many predators that lay in wait to ambush it.,” he said 

From my own point of view, for someone to be a good spokesperson, he or she must believe in themself, their abilities, and their own potential. They should never let self-doubt hold them captive.

Live with Purpose, Love with Passion. Remember to be happy

One ❤️❤️❤️

Rose Ajieh